Land of Mine

Land of Mine

Film poster
Directed by Martin Zandvliet
Produced by Malte Grunert
Mikael Chr. Rieks
Written by Martin Zandvliet
Starring Roland Møller
Mikkel Følsgaard
Cinematography Camilla Hjelm Knudsen
Edited by Per Sandholt
Molly Malene Stensgaard
Distributed by Nordisk Film
Release dates
  • 10 September 2015 (2015-09-10) (TIFF)
  • 3 December 2015 (2015-12-03) (Denmark)
Running time
 100 minutes
Country Denmark
Germany
Language Danish
German
Budget 35.5 million DKK[1]

Land of Mine (Danish: Under sandet) is a 2015 Danish-German historical drama film directed by Martin Zandvliet. It was shown in the Platform section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[2] The film is inspired by real events, that is barely described in history books and tells the story of German POWs sent to clear mines in Denmark after World War II. It is believed that more than 2,000 German soldiers were forced to remove mines, and nearly half of them lost their lives or limbs.[3]

Plot

In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945 a group of young German prisoners of war was handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent out to the West Coast, where they were ordered to remove the more than two million mines that the Germans had placed in the sand along the coast. With their bare hands, crawling around in the sand, the boys were forced to perform the dangerous work under the leadership of the Danish sergeant, Carl Leopold Rasmussen (Roland Møller).

Cast

Production

Filming began in July 2014 and ended in August 2014. The film was shot at historically authentic locations, including in Oksbøllejren and areas in Varde.

Reception

Land of Mine received very positive critical acclaim. It received a standing ovation at the Toronto Film Festival,[4] with Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter stating "Director Martin Zandvliet has come up with a fresh and compelling approach to this well-traveled territory".[5] and David D'Arcy of the Screendaily stating "Land of Mine achieves moments of chilling suspense in scenes of untrained soldiers defusing mines by hand and in the bloody bodies that leap into the air when the boys fail".[6] Domestically it received 5 out of 6 stars from a number of critics, who all stated it was the best Danish film of the year.[7][8][9][10] It was furthermore selected to play at Sundance in 2016.[11][12]
It has won numerous awards, including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Danish Film at the Bodil Awards.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Nordisk Film & TV Fond Jumps On Zandvliet’s Land of Mine". Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Toronto International Film Festival Announces Inaugural Platform Lineup". IndieWire. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "UNDER SANDET - NY FILM AF MARTIN ZANDVLIET" (in Danish). Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Monggaard, Christian. "Giant Canadian Hug" (in Danish). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Farber, Stephen. "'Land of Mine': TIFF Review". The Hollywood Review. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  6. ↑ D'Arcy, David. "'Land Of Mine': Review". ScreenDaily (in Danish). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Review: Land of Mine" (in Danish). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Olsen, Jesper. "Review" (in Danish). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Carlsen, Per Juul. "A Kick in the Head for National Feeling" (in Danish). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Kastrup, Kim. "Land of Mine is Number 1" (in Danish). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "SUNDANCE INSTITUTE COMPLETES FEATURE FILM LINEUP FOR 2016 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL". Sundance. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "LAND OF MINE HEADING TO SUNDANCE". Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  13. ↑ /ritzau/. "Bodil Party: Post war drama wins big". b.dk (in Danish). Berlinske. Retrieved 7 March 2016.

External links

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